BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A California man who told a Montana Highway Patrol trooper he had been in Yellowstone National Park to visit Yogi Bear has been sentenced to prison for possessing 8.3 pounds (3.7 kilograms) of methamphetamine officers found in the spare tire of his rental car.

The Billings Gazette reports 32-year-old Manuel Paz Sanchez Jr. of Sacramento was sentenced Thursday to 15 years and eight months in federal prison for possession of meth with intent to distribute.

The trooper stopped Sanchez on Interstate 90 near Columbus in December 2017 for following another car too closely.

Court records say Sanchez seemed confused about where he was going and where he had been, and his rental car was due to have been returned a day earlier. He granted officers permission to search the car.

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Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com

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